U.S. Trade Partners Cut Deals with Each Other

Buffeted by President Donald Trump’s tariffs for the past year, America’s longstanding allies are seeking ways to shield themselves from the president’s impulsive trade actions, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Recent actions by trading partners could diminish US influence and mean higher interest rates and prices for Americans already frustrated by the high cost of living.

US trade partners are cutting deals among themselves — sometimes setting aside old differences — in a push to diversify their economies away from a newly protectionist United States.

Central banks and global investors are dumping dollars and buying gold. Together, those actions could diminish US influence and mean higher interest rates and prices for Americans already frustrated by the high cost of living.

Last summer and fall, Trump used the threat of punishing import taxes to pressure the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and other trading partners into accepting trade deals and promising to make massive investments in the US.

But a deal with Trump, they have discovered, is no deal at all.